Creating a Phantom
by Kuro Shiro Sama-Sama
Summary: "Well it's simple Doctor. With a power like that, ruling an empire is child's play. I like to think bigger, grander! Why be a king when you could be so much more! You could be infinite!" Note: this is one part in the "Sonic Forces: At Full Force" Saga that rewrites the Rise of Infinite Comic as well as Episode Shadow to make them more satisfying in terms of story (PART 1)
1. Rise of Infinite

**This is me attempting to rewrite the Rise of Infinite comic released on Twitter on the same day Sonic Forces was released in America. This is just a small part of a much bigger story that is basically me attempting to rewrite all of Sonic Forces' story in a way that is much more complete and satisfying than the story we were given. Because this is just a part one of a much bigger story, I should say that this is just a part one and the complete story will be revealed over time and while I could write them all into one HUGE story I find that some are better off splitting into their own stories for the sake of ease for the reader, limitations to to managing stories and because some stories in this "saga" I've started (because I'm insane) can honestly stand on their own. This little saga I like to call "Sonic Forces: At Full Force". This is part one of that saga rewriting Infinite in a way that makes sense and just gives him more character as well as making the story from the actual Rise of Infinite comic as well as Episode Shadow (later on) more satisfying. So with that out of the way I present to you my attempt at rewriting Forces as a whole and Rise of Infinite in the form of:**

 **Sonic Forces: At Full Force Part 1:**

 **The Making of a Phantom**

 **Chapter 1: Rise of Infinite**

Anarchy. Chaos. Destruction.

Around the jackal without a name was a barren desert with disheveled towers long abandoned, rusted and ready to crumble should someone even walk up to them and touch them with the tips of their fingers. The heavy, humid winds blowing dust and debris through the air, making it inhospitable – his lungs begging him to stop breathing the stuff in because it was more pollutants than oxygen. In the sky above there was only the roar of thunder as bolts of lightning danced from cloud to cloud – the clouds themselves thick and dirty gold in color no doubt full of acid rain ready cleanse this hellscape by melting it away.

Oh the joy it brought him to witness the world in such a state of despair-inducing decay! He reveled in the mere sight of this world, exasperating and breaking out into a cold sweat as soft wines of pleasure escaped his lips. How he wanted to hold this world in the palm of his hands and crush it to pieces!

And then a hand pushed him and released him from that world...

On the ground he looked around him, the world no longer in a state of disaster – skies of blue and clouds of white and the hot desert sun searing his eyes. A fat mustached man looked down on him as he sat on his flying throne, that horrendous looking machine! How the jackal wanted to rip that machine to bits and tear that fat man's arms off as he laughed to celebrate his petty victory!

Hearing the sound of footsteps from his squadron the jackal growled. He didn't want them near their leader in his state of... no... not _weakness_... he was not _weak_ by any definition of the word. This was but an unexpected step back he would no doubt counter with an attack of his own.

It was that precious gem in the doctor's hands...

As soon as he tapped his sword against that thing he entered that world – that ugly, disgusting, horrendous and wonderful world without life!

"That world..." he muttered. "I must see that world again!"

The fat man looked intrigued. "And what world did the Phantom Ruby show you?"

One of the other jackals spoke up: "Boss, don't be tempted by him!"

But the jackal without a name looked back at his squadron with a low growl and venomous look in his eye. "None of you move! I'm fine!"

"You have a nice rag-tag team. Jackal Squad, was it?" the fat man asked.

The jackal without a name growled louder, jumping back onto that machine with the sword to the fat man's neck. "I want that ruby! I want to go back to that world!"

And while the good doctor would normally tremble in his boots he had the advantage: the very key to that world the jackal desired which made him smirk and look at the wild dog with absolute delight. "If you kill me, you'll never be able to go back."

That barren world called to him, it urged him to come back where it would welcome him back with a warm embrace and give him all of it's splendor. He salivated at the thought of that world, his sword hand shaking as he weighed his choices: kill the doctor and take that gem in a world he may not get back or hear what the fat man had to say and risk his dignity to get a taste of that world again...

He couldn't weigh out which decision would be worse.

Then the sword dropped. "What is that _thing_? Tell me Doctor."

"This THING is the Phantom Ruby! I was studying it in my lab before you showed up. See: what you saw as an illusion from the ruby itself. It's capable of creating life-like illusions that are so life-like that they might as well be apart of your reality." the doctor explained. "I didn't think anyone else would be able to see it! But then again, I didn't have anyone organic to test out it's effects. I suppose that's one downside to your only friends being robots."

"And how did you get such a valuable item?"

"I just so happened o find it. Not a very exciting story whatsoever." the doctor smiled even wider. "It still need a great deal of testing before I can figure out how to make the most of it's abilities. It's powers of illusion far surpass any form of virtual or augmented reality we have on the market! But with such power must come a lot of drawbacks... So without a way to contain and keep this power stable, the Phantom Ruby as it is now shouldn't be used or put in incapable hands."

"You're just talking big! How do I get back to that world it showed me?!"

The doctor waved his finger. "Temper, temper Mister Jackal. The ruby is unstable. Even if you were to chop my head off and take it from me there's no guarantee you'll be able to see the same illusion again."

"Then how DO I see it again? How can I go back?!"

"Well I certainly like you. Why don't we work together? I'll hire your squad to act as my body guards while research on the ruby is being conducted."

Looking back at the squadron of jackals, each one seemed uncomfortable looking at the pair with questioning glances as their individual loyalties toward their boss were all beginning to waver. And noticing this caused their boss to growl louder than he had before, roaring and causing the human doctor to cover his ears at the sound.

"THE LOT OF YOU! GET YOUR ACTS TOGETHER!" he barked. "If ANY of you have doubts, you should leave immediately – but don't you DARE expect to leave the way you came!"

A jackal in a green bandanna stepped forward, looking up at his boss with sweat rolling own the side of his head. "Boss, whatever you want to do we'll do it. But just think what you're doing! There's a bounty on the technology in that lab!"

"And that ruby is the most valuable thing in this fat man's possession." he looked down at the jackal attempting to reason with him, stepping on the human's bald head and then the front of that machine, leaning over so the other jackal could feel his hot breath. "That ruby is something I want. That ruby has a great amount of power and I want to make that illusion it showed me reality."

The jackal in the bandanna gulped hard enough to hear.

The jackal without a name – the leader of this squadron – turned back to the doctor, extending his hand. "Let's do it Doctor. My squad protects the premises while that ruby gets researched..."

"And what do you want out of the deal?"

The jackal laughed under his breath, salivating and tail wagging. The gem called to him, right there in that human pig's hand! But he argued with himself... Oh how he argued with himself.

How he desired to chop off the fat man's hands and run off with that brilliant stone, abandoning the world he knew in favor of the one in that illusion – forgetting his squad, forgetting the terrorist sitting behind him and make off with the stone forever never to be seen again.

But to take it now and risk the stone being a plain stone for the rest of his days?

Leave it to the fat man and abandon it to go back to his normal life?

No... A stone with power like that needed to be researched; it's power properly harnessed multiplied by an infinite number. It was for the gem's sake...

Licking his fangs at the thought of that much power he responded: "I want that ruby's power for myself."

"Meaning what?!" asked the doctor, perplexed by the animal's desire.

"I mean I want that gem's power inside of me... And as such I'm willing to become a test subject to make sure it's power is perfect."

"Boss, you can't be serious!"

"Shut up you." the jackal without a name spat, jerking his head back to the jackal trying to reason with him. And then he remembered: the lot of them. He turned back to the doctor. "How is my squadron going to be compensated for their work?"

"Room and board, food, and should I achieve my goals you and your squadron would get high in the ranks of the Eggman Empire!"

"Pft. Eggman Empire..." the jackal rolled his eyes. "You think too small, Doctor!"

"Then what is it YOU suggest Mister Jackal?"

Looking up at that boring bright blue sky and breathing deeply he thought back to that world, the sensations from the illusion already fading in his memory. He didn't want to lose that. He didn't just need to go back to that illusion – he needed to make that illusion become reality – the ONLY reality for this pathetic, boring world that was a mere shell of it's former glory; it's roots having gone rotten, it's egg cracked but the chick dying inside, a gem with too many impurities...

"Well? Speak up jackal!" the doctor shouted, only to have the jackal come face to face with him with a deadly look in his blue and yellow eyes.

...

"Well it's simple Doctor. With a power like that, ruling an empire is child's play. I like to think bigger, grander! Why be a king when you could be so much more! You could be infinite!"

That word. In that instance he fell in love with the word.

"Yes that's it. I'd much rather become infinite."

...

It was weeks of toiling the hours away in a lab, watching the infamous Doctor Eggman work from a few feet away and absorbing every detail regarding the illusive Phantom Ruby into his psyche. He had fallen in love with the stone and was obsessed with the taste of power it presented to him. He studied it constantly, foregoing food, sleep and sunlight, sustained only by his love of the beautiful and mysterious red gem while his squadron guarded the facility 24/7.

He had fallen asleep looking through the doctor's notes on a computer small enough to store in the pocket of a pair of human pants. The computer still turned on and about the shut off due to the low battery he snored quietly, hunched over in an office chair with his head on the desk and unaware of the red robot putting a blanket over him and turning the small device off.

The jackal without a name had grown weaker – though he would bite your throat if you dare say that to his face. But speaking in a strictly medical sense 'weak' was the perfect word to describe it.

Foregoing food caused him to lose weight. Foregoing sleep gave him bags under his eyes. Foregoing sunlight and much exercise all together gave him a variety of ailments that challenged him daily. The jackal who once proudly barked out orders with authority was now prone to dry and sore throats that needed gallons of water and warm soup to rid himself of. He was prone to dizziness, headaches, fatigue, and he was quick to anger (more so than he used to be). He had trouble paying attention to even the simplest of things unless it involved the Phantom Ruby and even when he did manage to get any amount of sleep he dwell on his obsession, seeing in hues of red, black and gray – those swirls imprinting onto his very brain and dyeing it in it's brilliant colors and hearing the gentle hum of the spectral corundum singing to him in his dreams.

But on the other hand: there was the doctor.

"Doctor, I have something to report on Mister Jackal." Orbot said as he held a clipboard in his hands while Eggman furiously typed notes on the ruby on a keyboard connected to a giant monitor. "Mister Jackal's condition is getting worse. He's refused to eat for several days and his sleep has been rather erratic. No doubt this has something to do with the ruby."

"He hasn't had any direct contact with the ruby since I first hired him. He's just making himself mad over some gemstone – a brilliant gemstone that could help me take over the world and worth obsessing over mind you! But his health is his problem."

Orbot countered with: "Seeing as how he agreed to be your test subject you should consider his health a higher priority. You can't do anything with his corpse! You're no veterinarian!"

"While I may not have a degree or a license to work with animals, that's never stopped me before!"

"But in the event that something does happen to Mister Jackal before we can offer him a chance at-!"

Eggman turned to the robot with a smirk. "If his health is deteriorating then that gives me more of an advantage. Haven't you ever noticed that he hates being called 'weak'?"

"I have. I wrote it down in my notes!" Orbot flipped through several pages, citing a particular incident of this nature. "Just last week: when Cubot commented on Mister Jackal's lack of muscle by using the word 'weak', Mister Jackal responded by cracking open Cubot's hard shell and pulling out his voice chip."

(Cubot had been ordered to stay away from 'Mister Jackal' from that point forward, getting his voice chipped replace without incident and on permanent 'bring the rest of Jackal Squad refreshments' duty to prevent it from happening again.)

Eggman went back to typing and looking at the ruby that floated in a test tube. "Well if his physical condition is deteriorating and his health is going south then he'll get desperate – having no choice but to come to ME for assistance! Not to mention he already signed his life away to me when he agreed to work with me! Something tells me he's wanted this all along!"

"Well, perhaps not the part about physically deteriorating but he _did_ agree to become a test subject..."

"Healthy or unhealthy I've studied to ruby enough to come up with a few prototypes to implant in him as well as the other jackals should they agree." and stepping away from the computer Eggman took seven small black boxes out of his pockets, putting them all on a table but opening only one of them. "One for each of them. The question is which ruby prototype and which jackal would be the most successful! See each prototype has a slightly different level of power! In the event I have seven test subjects, each one of them can be tested. In the event I only have one jackal to use as a test subject we'll have to go from lowest to highest."

"Would you kindly explain the differences between each one?"

"At the lowest setting-" he tapped on the box that was open. "-you can create and shatter illusions and realities brought about by the ruby."

"Can you not already achieve such a thing with the original?"

"Ah, yes but the original is far too unstable! That's why the original must be contained – if not it creates a by-product of an inconsistent measure that distorts space-time in the affected area. With these prototypes the by-product is far more controlled allowing for close range and long range illusions!" he continued explaining what each prototype did to the sphere-headed robot and watched him take notes.

"And what of your base in the Mystic Ruins?"

Eggman had sent a few of his construction robots to go reclaim an old base of his in Mystic Jungle – the site where he planned to test the ruby prototypes and perform the necessary procedures on the jackal(s). The Mystic Jungle base had been abandoned for quite some time but ruins has their own advantages – plenty of space and a variety of spaces to test the full effects of the ruby and the illusions it could create at various levels of power...

"Send half of the defense squad to the Mystic Jungle. I need to have a little talk with Mister Jackal."

With a nod Orbot left the lab.

 **Chapter end**


	2. Episode Shadow: Midnight Massacre

**It should be stated that we don't know who Infinite truly was before he became Infinite. For all we know he's just an ordinary jackal who got really good at killing things and became the ultimate mercenary in a completely mundane sense – just through pure skill and experience. That in itself is not bad. If that was the intention with his character it's no wonder he gets defeated so easily by Shadow in the canon story we are given – but if not then... boy he really does look weak... BUT I believe the intention was for Infinite to be an "ultimate" in the mundane sense (no special powers, abilities or maguffins to give him a boost) and the same likely applies to Jackal Squad (because in the short time we see them, none of them exhibit any special abilities, same with Infinite).**

 **It should also be stated that the Mobians seem very durable over all: even those without special maguffins to give them super powers (like Chaos Control, psychokinesis, pyrokinesis or essentially being Echidna Salior Moon) or attributes that they were naturally born with or gained and honed overtime (like Sonic's speed, Tails' ability to fly with his tails or Amy's amazingly all-around balanced stats) have been proven to withstand a lot of abuse. Completely normal characters like Rouge and Cream (who are Mobians without these special abilities) are competent as they are. So even if Infinite as a normal jackal is completely mundane, he's not weak in the sense that he can't take any abuse in a fight – he just can't complete with most of the main cast who for the most part all have a special power of some kind to assist them.**

 **On a side note I'll also be improvising names for Jackal Squad. Fan art I've found for the entire squad make the squad consist of the ones we've seen in the comics (one with a bandanna, one with a red beret, one with slicked back hair and knives, a female one in a green top and wearing polka dot pants and Infinite himself. There are two more that are just silhouettes in the background.) The piece of fanart I've decided would be THE Jackal Squad consisted of two females and the rest are male (plus Infinite himself). The two jackals that were silhouettes in the Rise of Infinite comic can be left up to interpretation but one had a sword meaning there was another swordsman besides Infinite and the other was too far to give them any discerning personality based purely on a silhouette so that one is a freebie for us fanfickers.**

 **So now that that's out of the way, lets get on with the story:**

 **Chapter 2: Episode Shadow: Midnight Massacre**

A few weeks later the jackal without a name was sent to the Mystic Ruins alone. The rest of his squadron awaited him, having been sent ahead of time to watch the facility as it was being cleared out, repaired, whatever it was. As he traveled he thought back on the doctor making that second proposal to him: the promise of a surgery that would give him the Phantom Ruby's power.

 _Mister Jackal? I have some important news for you. See, I've completed enough research to produce a few prototypes of the Phantom Ruby. But don't get too excited just yet – each one still needs some fine tuning and then there's you... See, you haven't been doing as well as you used to! You haven't eaten or slept normally for a very long time._

At that he would grumble and tell the doctor to get to the point.

 _Before any procedures can be done you need to get back to your old self again. If you can get yourself in a better physical condition then there's a larger chance of a procedure such as this being a success! If you can get even stronger than what you used to be, the chances of success will be even higher. But given your current condition the chances of success are about 50-50. Surgery is risky. ANY surgical procedure is risky. And because the Phantom Ruby is still so volatile we need to take extra precautions when handling it. You and I have had relatively little physical contact with the stone but touching it is one thing and having it implanted in your body is completely different!_

Again, he demanded the doctor get to the damn point.

 _Simply put: you may be too weak for surgery in your current state._

That word... he growled at that word. Not knowing what came over him he barked, unable to use his words, thrashing about and breaking the cot in his bedroom – the metal bed frame bending to his will! Could a weak man do that?!

While the doctor did show his cowardice he continued:

 _Forgive me Mister Jackal. Clearly you are strong, but there's always room for improvement! I'm only telling you this because it's in your best interest! Honest! SO: I've come up with a regimen for you to help you get back to your old condition. Nothing too difficult; vitamin megadoses, a minimum of three meals per day, a time slot in the day devoted to exercise. I'll even have treaddesks installed in the lab so you may continue your study while working on your condition. And once you've improved we'll discuss the surgery further._

Of course he went through with it for himself as well as the ruby. He got himself as close to his original self before meeting that nefarious Doctor Eggman – to him a total hack who just so happened to stumble upon a great source of power the jackal wanted. To the rest of the world the man was a terrorist that could never be caught and charged seeking to destroy and conquer absolutely everything on the planet and onward! Never did the jackal imagine such a team up. He had never considered it – only having seen Eggman as a bounty and even then his technology was more valuable than the man himself. But then there was the ruby... Oh that beautiful gem...

Thinking about it made him salivate.

Fires in the distance.

The thick smog coming from the forest.

The sound of jackals screaming and whining in the distance – members of his squad!

He rushed over to each member as they sounded off in pain.

…

"JUST DIE ALREADY!"

the voice of the youngest member of Jackal Squad – Rosetta – screamed as she hid for cover behind the walls of ruins, rocket launcher in hand before a dark figure punched or kicked the girl's lights and teeth out. He witnessed her head his a jagged rock when she fell; somehow her weapon was confiscated and gone in the blink of an eye! He ran to the girl, her muzzle bleeding profusely and gargling her own blood and she looked up at her boss with sorry eyes, unable to form an apology.

"Rosetta, how did this happen? You were a damn professional!" he grabbed her by the straps of her tank top and picked her up, anger and bitterness in his voice. "You let a kick to the face stop you?!"

But no response, just sorry eyes that were glossing over.

"Rosetta, speak to me! You're not weak! You're not supposed to die like this!"

She tried to mouth out words – likely an apology or a final wish – but only soft wines and blood escaped the girls lips, head falling backwards and forcing the jackal without a name to lay her to rest among brambles and flowers.

...

It was laying the girl to rest that reminded him of the others. Where in the world had they gone? In a wild panic he started sniffing them out only to find that most had already met their ends.

Cairo: the most agile member of the squad who could dance through a barrage of throwing knives in a sand storm hadn't been fast enough to dodge the bullets that had tore through the jackal's chest, leaving him laying in a pool of his own blood and his favorite red beret dyeing itself even redder.

Luxor: the hair he normally kept swept back was now an ugly and beautiful silver mess spotted with blood, the poor jackal who was so concerned about his looks a petrified mess who died with his eyes open looking up at the rocks that crushed him to death.

Tanta: the second best swordsman of the squad died without his trusty sword in his hands, the carefully crafted steel beauty no where in sight as his hand emerged from the muddy sinkhole that swallowed him whole. Attempts to revive him were pointless – every orifice full of jungle sludge and his lungs unable to cough any of it up.

Giza: the other female jackal had burn wounds so severe on one side of her body that if all of her body had burnt, she would've been unrecognizable. When he stumbled upon her she was still gargling words and saliva but as soon as her boss found her and closed her eyes she passed on...

And the only one left...

…

"Ultimate life form?! Doesn't matter, I'll-!"

Oh... gods no... Not Alex...

The jackal ran toward the sound of his last remaining teammate, watching the jackal with the bandanna get thrown about in the air, kicked around like a child's toy until he fell to the ground with a thud and an agonizing groan.

The dark figure stood over him, stomping on Alex's chest with his giant, gaudy shoes. "Ultimate mercenary... What a joke. You people are no more than declawed kittens."

Immediately the jackal without a name took his ruby red blade, swinging at the black hedgehog standing over his teammate only for the creature to disappear before his eyes.

"Boss!"

"Don't talk Alex." he looked around, sniffing the air to get an idea of the black hedgehog's scent.

The jackal with the bandanna put a hand over his stomach, trying to get up despite the sharp pains in his sides. He couldn't abandon his boss. Taking the green dagger out of his belt he stood next to the jackal without a name, back to back and senses heightened.

 _Over there, in the trees! Hiding in the branches like a COWARD!_ The jackal without a name rushed to the trees, jumping from each one with his sword ready to be swung but something like a laser shooting past him and knocking over a tree that barely hit Alex (for he had rolled out of the way in the nick of time).

The hedgehog appeared on the ground again. "So you're the leader of this team of 'ultimate mercenaries' the Doctor ordered? Pathetic!"

The jackal without a name looked at the hedgehog with venomous eyes from his spot on a high branch above it all. "You..." primal venom showed in his voice. "You destroyed my squad."

"They were just a bunch of kids with no experience – all bark and no bite." the black hedgehog scoffed. "So are you the one they call the 'Ultimate Mercenary', _Boss_ ~?"

The jackal growled. "MURDERER! You killed every last one of them!" running toward the hedgehog and ready to stab his heart out he was mystified to find that as soon as he got close enough, the bastard disappeared and he got a round kick to the head that sent him flying toward his friend.

The hedgehog growled. "Worthless..."

Sitting over his friend in a protective manner and making sure he was still alive the jackal grit his teeth. "What was that?"

"You're a worthless mercenary. You've wasted not only my time, but also the lives of your former teammates. Those miserable punks were better off doing something else with their lives." Shadow grumbled. "The lives of crime they lived under your commands were pointless! They died for absolutely NOTHING."

"Who are you to talk?! You never knew them!" putting his blade between his fangs he took his leather gloves off to reveal sharpened claws. "THEY WERE MY ONLY FRIENDS YOU MONSTER!"

But just as before, as soon as the jackal got close enough the bastard teleported away, grabbing him by his long silver hair and throwing him to the ground with enough force to send him several feet into the earth. Jumping out while dizzy from impact rendered the jackal defenseless, a shoe hitting his back, it's heel digging into his spine.

"Just give up. You're fighting for the losing team. Go do something more productive with your life and get out of here." the hedgehog sighed. "You're lucky to even have you life you pathetic weakling."

He teleported away, pressure off the jackal's back but left with an aching head and a blow to the ego.

He slowly got up as his friend did. "Weak? He's calling me weak? Can you believe that Alex?!"

"Boss..." Alex took a communicator off of his head, handing it to his boss (who held it against his ear).

Eggman...

"Your squad was useless. I expected you to be the best mercenaries around and instead I get puppies that Shadow managed to put down like it was nothing!"

The jackal without a name bit his lip so hard it bled. "DON'T YOU DARE CALL THEM WEAK!"

"They _were_ weak! If your squad was really talented they would've defeated Shadow without a single scratch on any of them!"

"Don't talk about them like that, Old Man!"

"Whatever. Seeing as how your pathetic squad was defeated staying at that base is too dangerous."

"But what about my surgery?! What about that power you promised me?!"

"That procedure can still happen but..." the doctor paused. "To be frank: you being so easily defeated by Shadow is very discouraging."

The jackal growled into the communicator feral and loud. "You promised me that power! My whole squad is DEAD because of YOU! You're the one who ordered them out here! You knew that damn hedgehog was coming here, didn't you?!"

On the other side of the communicator Eggman smirked from ear to ear. Shadow had been send out here by GUN – likely to investigate why so many robots and jackals started coming to the ruins of the jungle. Shadow was powerful enough to handle such jobs on his own, sparing many human lives in the process. Surely if this jackal mercenary and his squad were as powerful as they boasted they could take him on... Of course they failed...

He had carefully calculated this: dead or alive, the other jackals could still be of use to him so long as the jackal he called 'Mister Jackal' remained unharmed – a few bumps and bruises internally or externally were fine so long as he didn't die! Those animals seemed to be such well built creatures as evident with Shadow... It was only when the opportunity presented itself that Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik could follow in his grandfather's footsteps.

And what better way to take advantage of this particular test subject when he was at his lowest?

"Oh come now Mister Jackal! You said you were the ultimate mercenary!" Eggman boasted. "I suspect the changes you underwent during our weeks of studying have thrown you off your game. After all, rehabilitation isn't always easy. I apologize for throwing you into battle when you weren't ready."

"Cut the crap old man!"

"It still stands that your squad has failed. But..." Eggman paused. "There is hope for the lot of you yet..."

"Hope? What hope?! My squad is dead because -!"

"Because you were weak."

That word again, how he hated that word! How he wanted to rip that word to shreds until it was no longer a word!

"I... am... not... weak..."

"As you are now you were absolutely no match for Shadow. So in that sense: you are INDEED weak."

"I'm not... The damn hedgehog was cheating!"

"Shadow was born with power. You on the other hand-!"

"I'm not weak, Doctor! I'm the ultimate mercenary!" the jackal without a name growled and yet he sounded afraid, which Alex caught as he watched his boss tremble while hearing the doctor over the communicator. "I have talent! I have experience! I'm strong! I swear I'm strong! I'm...!"

And even in complete silence he heard the word he detested most...

The jackal without a name caught himself shaking as he rapidly grew cold, taking the communicator away from his ear and looking down at his gloved hands.

"I-I'm shaking... Me?! Me... Afraid...?" he cleched his fists hard enough to crack the communicator in half. "Urgh. Pathetic! He's calling ME weak? No! I am not weak!"

"B-Boss..."

"I'm... I'm not. I'm not weak! I am not weak. I am not weak. I am not WEAK!"

He screamed like a wild animal in agony from a fatal wound, the weak and raging sounds of a jackal gone berserk surely deafening the moon and the stars. He screamed with revelation. He wasn't weak. He would prove so to the world and show that damn Shadow the Hedgehog how HE was the weak one! He was weak for using cheap tactics! Using and abusing power that wasn't rightfully his! The real weakling was Shadow – too reliant on whatever power he was using instead of righting like a real man!

The jackal known as Alex (full name Alexandria – though it was far too feminine a name for him) could only watch in fear as the boss he had known transformed into something ugly; a shell of his former self that shouted on and on about how he was not weak! And then he made the fatal mistake of grabbing his boss by the arm to snap him back to his senses.

All he got was a large scratch on his chest that would surely scar if only the wound would close and the bleeding stop...

"I'm not weak..." in his boss's eyes was only malice that knew no friend. "I'm not going to let you treat me as though I am either. I won't let ANYONE call me WEAK!"

Alex (the poor jackal) looked down at his wounds in bewilderment, his only actions consisting of pressing down hard on his bleeding chest and backing away into the brambles. This was no longer the boss he called "boss". The jackal had lost his mind, looking at his former subordinate with venom in his eyes, licking his teeth and salivating madly as he took steps toward him!

"Say... YOU don't think I'm weak, do you?" the mad jackal laughed. "DO YOU?!"

"I don't think your weak! I never have! But the way your acting isn't norm-!" he coughed, tasting blood in his mouth when his former boss stabbed him with his claws.

"I'm not weak... In fact I'm better than weak! I surpass the strong! I surpass the mighty! In fact, I think I'm... Heh..." he thought back to that word he fell in loves with all those weeks ago with tearful eyes and the taste of blood on his tounge... What a beautiful word. "Yes... I'm infinite! I'll become infinite! I like that idea quite a lot, don't you?"

The jackal only known as Alex fainted from blood loss...

 **Chapter End**

 **Before I get into my head canons for the jackals aside from Infinite, I will say one thing that I have a bit of beef with in regards to Sonic Forces: word from Sonic Team stated that this is a universe where only animals exist... Personally I think that's bullshit as the result of writing yourself into a hole and trying too hard to put the past games in the trash and trying to make Sonic fresh and new again.**

 **Humans HAVE to exist in Sonic's world not only because of Eggman but also because of Shadow. Without humans existing on Mobius, Shadow's entire character arc in Sonic Adventure 2 becomes meaningless and Eggman is just sort of there... So yes, if I were the one writing Sonic Forces or if I were to rewrite the entire story from scratch, this would be a universe where humans exist on Mobius alongside the animals. I think the only reason they made up the excuse of "this is a universe of only animals" is just the result of writing themselves into a hole, trying to discredit the past games everyone loves and trying to market Sonic to a newer audience. So yes I may make an occasional reference to a human character of two throughout the saga because as a writer, I'm calling bullshit because in terms of story telling there NEED to be humans or else we have two characters who have huge holes in their stories.**

 **That was a PSA in retconning details from your own franchise and trying to use the "it's a different universe" excuse.**

 **Onto the jackals!**

 **Head canons in regards to Jackal Squad names:**

 **So my portrayal of Jackal Squad was entirely improvised and all of it's members as explained in the opening author's notes were based on both the comic for the four members (aside from Infinite) that we see and the other two were based on a piece of fan art I found that portrayed a team of seven with the addition of a second female jackal and another male jackal. I decided to give them Egyptian names – specifically names based on Egyptian cities**

 **Again, just in case you want to use these names for your own interpretation of Jackal Squard, the names are: Alex/Alexandria (green bandana), Cairo (red beret), Luxor (slicked back hair), Tanta (the silhouetted jackal with the sword from the comic), Giza (the only visible female jackal in the comic with the polka dot pants) and Rosetta (the other silhouetted jackal from the comic that's the freebie for us fans to mess with)**

 **The only Jackal Squad member who's name I didn't come up with on my own was "Alex" - or the jackal in the green bandanna we see in the comic (who is the only other jackal that has a speaking role, perhaps indicating he was very close to Infinite). That name came from a random piece of fan art I found on the Sonic the Hedgehog Amino. It was a piece of fan art that portrayed Infinite and the jackal with the bandanna closer to actual jackals (and I believe that post was called "The Hunt" if I'm not mistaken, though I can't recall the name of the artist). The name Alex fit perfectly with my head canon of Jackal Squad having Egyptian names and to give him the name of a city his full name would be "Alexandria" - just Alex for short. This story does not end happy for Alex...**


	3. The Phantom

**Hope my rant on the humans in the previous chapter's author's notes weren't too much. Admittedly I sort of became a Sonic fan not only because my boyfriend convinced me to play the games with him for let's plays (which are all discontinued), but it was looking at all of the stories the games tried to tell. I sort of fell in love with it in that aspect, having this simultanious admiration of the franchise for trying to tell so many stories and being ambitious while also being critical of it and wondering why these story decisions in newer Sonic games are being made. Keep in mind: I have not been a Sonic fan forever. There were many times in my youth where I could've become one early but I avoided it for one reason or another – it was a motif in my life that kept on finding me whether I wanted to find it or not (and most times I did not).**

 **How fitting and disturbing that after all these years I gave into my blue stalker's whims and actually took some time to play a few games and then going nuts over the various stories it wanted to tell and has told over the years. I can only hope that if I were to get popular enough my original writing can become as big and varied as that.**

 **This chapter doesn't really attempt to rewrite anything, in fact it's mostly original. It's meant to be leading up to that one cut scene in Episode Shadow where Infinite gets his mask for the first time but other than that this is my mad creation. If you liked the cosmic horror that is "Phantom of the Phantom Ruby" you might like this chapter.**

 **Also as of 2/16/2018 – Happy Belated Valentine's Day! This chapter contains Infinite x Phantom Ruby. Hopefully I can portray more of this jackal's insanity with the spectral corundum. There's also a tinge of Alex x Infinite for you yaoi fans out there but it being straight yaoi is not the intention. I'm also going to use my ACTUAL head canon name for Infinite that isn't "Jack the Jackal". So strap in!**

 **Creating a Phantom**

 **Chapter 3: The Phantom**

Under a haze the jackal without a name awoke to the sound of beeping, the sound of something being raised, robotic chatter coming from his right and the sound of air pumps pumping oxygen into a mask that was secured onto his muzzle. A hospital... No, that fat man's lab...

The lower half of his body was heavy while his arms and head felt weightless and floating, if not for the oxygen mask strapped to his face his head could've flown off into another dimension. It was when he felt the lump in his chest when he realized it: the surgery he was promised took place.

But how long he had been in surgery and how much time had past since that damn hedgehog... "No... Don't think about it... Don't think about how he made you we- NO! Don't think about it! Don't think about it!" with gargled words he ranted in a half-conscious state, thrashing about in his hospital bed – that's when he noticed the straps on his ankles, legs, torso and each hand that kept him restrained as well as the hospital gown with a hole cut right where ruby was implanted, his fur having been shaved off and black stitches visible due to the contrast with his ghostly white flesh.

And not only that – oh no – he had wires all around him. Wires attached to his head, needles in his right arm dripping fluids with no color into his blood stream and needles in his left arm either collecting blood or putting that blood into his bloodstream (though where said blood was from he knew not to question). The last wire of course needed no mention as relieving oneself was not polite to talk about.

Just how many surgeries had he undergone to get to this point? Strapped down in a hospital bed with nothing to do and his entire body feeling uneven and drained, the surgery he was promised obviously happened but he growled in rage at his current state of being: not truly living while strapped to this bed! He wanted to hunt down that hedgehog and rip him in half!

No matter how many profanities he screamed they all came out gargled, mouth full of marbles and audio unclear due to the thick, plastic oxygen mask. Thrashing about was also useless – arms unable to rip the straps from the mattress and absolutely no feeling in either leg. His whines were gargled and he felt as though he were speaking in backwards tongues.

Gas was rapidly forced into the mask, causing him to cough and cease his struggling. Damn doctor... Treating him like a damn puppy that needed to be put down! How dare he... It was as though the doctor thought he was...

He wanted – tried so hard – to scream but his mouth was barely open, eyes fixed toward the florescent lights overhead. His haze settled back in, eyes closed, he drifted again...

The ruby was calling him in his dreams, pulsing through his chest in the infinite number of worlds it dragged him into. But there was always one place the ruby took him: this empty space devoid of life, devoid of meaning, devoid of anything meaningful aside from the ruby itself which floated beside him, a pale gray imitation of it implanted in his chest while the bright red stone hypnotized him and dragged him further into a world he couldn't understand – one he wanted to understand for the sake of the jewel.

He floated among the nothing with complete blackness surrounding him as lights rushed past him. He couldn't help but smile at it all.

As thought the ruby read his deranged mind conjuring up images of capturing his enemies and rivals and trapping him in the nothing, watching them lose their minds as they struggled to accept the concept. He laughed without a voice, bearing his teeth in delight and eyes glimmering with despair! The ruby pulsed brightly, vibrantly, whispering sweet nothings to the jackal in this vast space. It told him all of it's secrets, all of the things he could do with such power and how it chose him to be it's partner. The ruby could choose no one else! There was no one capable of living up to it's expectations and no one else capable of accepting such power, being able to handle it to it's fullest potential without going mad! Being accepted by his precious stone only caused the look in the jackal's eyes to grow weary and glossed over.

He tried to grasp it but it floated away, pulsing dimly. Not yet... It didn't want him to do that yet...

But the salivating jackal only tried again, wanting to hold the stone in his hands and hold it against his chest. He wanted to feel as much power from the stone as possible, clawing at it as it continued to float away. He barked without a voice, whining slightly and feeling somewhat cheated... somewhat wea-... Weak...

He felt weak but the word caused him no pain.

The ruby shone brightly, nearly blinding him as it suddenly went from a dim rusty red to a brilliant ruby red. It spoke to him, whispering that word in hushed tones. He would never have to feel weak again and whenever he did feel weak the ruby would provide for him. His chest was pounding, the faded ruby moving in time with his heartbeat. They're already become one but he was still adjusting to this power. He needed more time to understand it, to harness it and master it – and no doubt he'd be strong enough to do it! No one else could ever! The ruby CHOSE him! It needed him as much as he desired it even though it refused to be touched by him.

"Nu..." he spoke without a voice. "You're mine... You're going to let me have you..."

The ruby's glow faded.

"You want me... You need me as much as I need you! So just let me have you! Can't you tell how much I need you?!" he reached for it again only for it to grow even darker looking more like an onyx than a ruby. "Don't act that way, I'm begging you! Don't make me beg! Don't make me feel weak!"

The gem smiled at that word, glowing brighter again and floating into the jackal's arms with it's glow warming him up in the cold space.

…

 _Go on... Keep on feeling weak..._

…

He could feel tubes in his nostrils and heard the sound of yelling as he woke up again. Still strapped to the bed and with a heaviness in his chest he couldn't even jump at the sound of metal being thrown about a room also covered in metal.

"I DON'T CARE HOW LONG IT TAKES, GET THAT JACKAL BACK IN THE LAB IMMEDIATELY!" the old man was yelling about something... Something about a jackal...

All of his friends were long gone, faces blank canvases in need of paint, their bodies messes of red, black and white that all mixed together to create large fractals in his brain. He couldn't recall a single one of their names or how they had died. He knew they existed, he knew he was friendly with them but as to who and what they were and what relationships they shared just could not be recalled. They were phantoms in his brain composed of abstract features no normal person could explain.

He began to hate being strapped to the bed and began seeing black hands in leather gloves crawl to the straps and they started undoing them – faint red glows surrounding each hand as they worked to free him. After the straps went the wires, each one carefully pulled off of his head and out of his hand leaving only the needles which they didn't seem to want to fuss with. Another hand lifted his oxygen mask to wipe the saliva from his muzzle as another hand worked to undo the mask – tossing it aside once it was off...

The hands – now growing into long, endless arms forced him to sit up as they tore away the hospital gown and the ruby pulsing in his chest warming him up in an otherwise freezing hospital room and letting feeling return to every inch of his body. It was once he felt back to normal that all of the hands disappeared and he got out of bed for the first time in what felt like months, looking at his limbs and his stomach and noticing how thin he was compared to before with his gloves feeling somewhat large and his boots no where in sight. He smiled, fangs sticking out in pure delight as he was warmed by his precious stone.

More metal being thrown around, mysterious arms that sprung from a collective of red cubes at their beginnings shielding his body as objects thrown in fits of anger flew past.

"WHAT?! HE OBLITERATED THOSE BOTS IN NOW MANY MINUTES?!"

"It would appear that his levels of tenacity were higher than what was estimated, Doctor."

"Yeah and he's getting away!"

"Well he escaped with the ruby prototypes you fools!" the old man barked at the two robots in his company. The jackal couldn't help but smirk as he walked by unnoticed, already of sound mind and body and ready to go on a hunt of his own – a hunt that mere robots couldn't even accomplish!

…

The jackal known as Alex (full name Alexandria) escaped the facility and ran mad through Mystic Jungle with every ruby prototype he could grab tucked into the pockets of his hospital gown, a prototype of his own sloppily implanted in his chest and trying to resist the urge to scratch his stitches as he ran toward civilization.

It was a miracle that he could fight of the hordes of robots that mad doctor sent after him, each one of them getting sliced in half by mysterious red and black daggers coming out of portals made up of black and red cubes. But no matter how cool it was or how useful it was in this situation it wasn't a power he could keep – far too dangerous and unstable! He didn't want to end up like his boss... He wouldn't be seduced by such a power and succumb to that level of madness...

A metal giant lost to time stopped him in his tracks. This was either another abandoned Eggman facility or a trap... Either way he couldn't afford to risk a misstep to get himself captured and experimented on again. The silence was as calming as it was deafening, no robots to be heard or seen, birds of the jungle and the chirping of insects seemed more frightening and than reassuring.

He touched the sloppily implanted ruby in his chest, starting to poke out from the stitches. Of course in his time as a mercenary he had seen much worse with wounds from the battlefield that couldn't be treated with clean and pristine equipment from a hospital. Many stitches were sewn up using shared needles from a sewing kit. Many times a wound was disinfected with a chemical cocktail of rubbing alcohol, iodine or herbs boiled in water if not another person's saliva. Incisions were made with the same knives they had used to murder each and every opponent or with teeth (either their own or the tooth of a long dead rival). How many times had they washed their wounds in lakes and rivers and prayed that no carnivorous fish would skin them alive? He looked upon those times with fondness now despite his regrets and the mourning yet to come...

Before him something formed out of a mess of red cubes... His boss... The boss he knew without the crazed look in his eyes that focused solely on the Phantom Ruby, the one who looked at the jackal in the bandanna with compassion and smiled with a tinge of worry.

"Alexandira, look at you! You can't go on like this!" the jackal with the mismatched eyes walked up to his friend, feeling the implant in his chest before lowering the bandanna on his friend's head lower onto his face until he was biting down on it. "I'll make this quick."

Forced onto the dirt and silt Alex bit down on his bandanna was his boss ripped his stitches with his teeth and nudged the stone out of the incision with his nose, warm breath and saliva causing the wound to sting. He heard the sound of something like glass being tapped and through half-closed eyes and wincing through pain he saw his boss with the jewel in his mouth for a moment before spitting it out and burying it in the dirt next to him.

"Boss..." he managed to get out despite the bandanna in his teeth. "Why did-."

A dirt-covered hand covered his mouth. "Don't talk until I'm done. And I thought we went over this: you don't need to call me 'Boss' when it's just the two of us. You're not just a teammate after all. We've known each other even before Jackal Squad."

He looked up at his friend as new stitches were being sewn onto his chest with a needle and thread he couldn't see, still biting down on his bandanna whenever the pain was too much and knowing his friend wouldn't judge him for it too much (though still expecting a scolding of some sort later). When it was finally done the bandanna was moved back up onto his head, the saliva wiped from the sides of his mouth with gloved hands that scratched behind his ears.

"Z-Zero... You didn't have to do this for me. I planned on ripping that thing out anyway! I planned on crushing every single one of these things!" making sure he was still wearing his hospital gown by patting his stomach and torso the jackal reached down in his pockets. All of the prototypes were still there feeling somewhat warm.

His friend stood silent, licking the wound to disinfect it and wiping his mouth after he was done. "What else do you plan on doing?"

"I need to get back to civilization, Zero... And once I do I can't be a mercenary anymore..."

Zero looked down at his friend with a smile on his face which made Alex realize this wasn't HIS Zero... Not his boss or his friend but an illusion – a phantom of the person Zero could've been if not for the ruby and perhaps the person he could've been if he wasn't a mercenary. He was looked down upon with caring eyes that spoke more than vocalized feelings ever could, words of acceptance and kindness that were completely silent.

"You... You don't mind if I quit the team? I don't know if I'm capable of living a normal life but-."

"You don't need my permission, Alex. Live whatever kind of life you want as long as it makes you happy. You're not just a member of Jackal Squad. Besides..." he lifted Alex's hand to his face. "Out of everyone in the squad, you're the most capable of living a normal life."

It was then when his friend burst into a mess of red cubes, a familiar face standing behind what was left of the ruby-born jackal with claws and fangs bared; look of death in his eyes just waiting for the kill.

His former boss and friend, the jackal he no longer recognized as a person looked over Alex as he lay there defenseless. Crouching down to sniff his body as though he had gone feral, eyes glowing with determination and ferocity as he tore the hospital down open with his teeth, ripping it off of him – standing over this total stranger.

He smirked, dropping it on the ground and crushing every ruby prototype in the pockets under his feet, shards of each prototype pricking him as he ground them into diamond dust. "You have no right to have these stones." he said with a grin. "You're too weak to have them. I'm the only one strong enough to have them."

The jackal without a name was stuck in between two worlds. What had been left of his sanity locked away in Null Space and lost to the time Jackal Squad was left for dead in the jungle. The rest of his mind devolved to functioning on a mix of pure, violent instinct while also keeping his more evolved senses of speech and careful calculation which made him colder than ever.

Lifting his foot to see he had turned the ruby prototypes into dust he stepped on the jackal's wounds hoping to grind the dust into his bloodstream as he heard the jackal whine. Oh that sound – the sound of weakness! The sound of a loser submitting to their punishment! It had him salivating and breathing heavily as though it were . "Yes... Cry for me. Show me how weak you are."

Alex whined and howled, the memories of the friend who helped him recover immediately replaced with the cruel acts of the jackal who wore the face of an old friend as he was tortured beneath his feet.

"Go on, cry! Cry puppy cry! Cry for me you weakling!" long arms sprouting out of red cubes surrounded the jackal without sanity. "I wonder what I should do with you~? I don't find the thought of killing you very fun but the fat man probably wants you in an urn right now... You know for all the times that asshole has lied to me I really do LOVE this power..."

Alex tasted blood on his tongue. "W-what was that?"

"This power... How can anyone call me weak with such power?"

"You've never been weak! You let someone manipulate you into thinking you were weak!" Alex whined. "You've never been weak Zero... If you'd... remember..."

That name...

That name seemed to snap him back to something resembling sanity as he blinked a few times, looking down at his hands and the jackal he had been stomping on. He removed his foot and knelt down, arms still surrounding him.

"Zero is... That's supposed to be me, right?"

Alex nodded. "That's who you've always been... That's who you've been to me... Just like the number zero: empty but full of potential, valuable, something that can be bigger when apart of something else..."

"No... That can't... I'm-." the jackal on the ground coughed, causing him to lose track of his thoughts. "You should get out..."

Blood dripping down from his lips, Alex shook his head. "I don't think there's anymore time to me to run. I don't even know where to run to."

"Just keep running straight. Get out of here. Get out and never turn back. Get out before I end up killing you." the jackal's head twitched as one eye retained that sadistic glare as the other remained concerned and afraid. "Run... Run away from me Alexandria... Don't ever come back for me. I'm no longer the person I was!"

The hands assisted the fallen jackal onto his feet, pushing him away from their crazed controller.

"I'm... not weak... I'm not weak. I am not weak. I am not weak! I AM NOT WEAK!" the crazed jackal screamed, commanding his arms to smash every nearby tree and plant in his way, anything to help the other jackal escape to somewhere better, somewhere far away from this mess. Even though his memories of such a jackal were rapidly deteriorating and intertwining with memories that were delusions from the ruby he wanted the poor sap to go free – not completely understanding why.

He breathed heavily, heart pounding rapidly as the ruby in his chest kept him warm. His arms burst into a red cubes once he grew tired of their ongoing attempts at deforestation. He fell to his knees. The power he had been given was intoxicating but to what end? How long would it last and how would it affect his head? Why did he let that weakling escape? Why did he want to sleep while unable to close his eyes? Gods, he didn't even recall his name...

A fat man in a floating machine flew to him, landing the vehicle next to him and checking his vitals.

"I must say that show you put on was impressive. But considering the fact you've been hospitalized and in a persistent vegetative state, this act of yours is only going to land you more time in that damn bed." in his hand he had a small flashlight, waving it left to right – the jackal following it with his eyes as his lip quivered. "Well, seems like you're mostly normal. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know."

"Don't know what?"

"I just don't know! What happened to me? Who am I? I don't get-!"

The old man grumbled. "So that implant is taking a toll on your memory then..."

"My memory?"

"No, it's nothing to worry about. It's something we can research together back at the lab. After some more testing, some scans and making time for another surgery if necessary we can move to another facility and help you get back to your old self."

"Old self? I... Wait..." the jackal looked down at his hands before sweeping his hair back. "I remember now... I crushed the other ruby prototypes after the other jackal... that weakling got away..."

"Did you destroy every last prototype?"

"Positive. That _thing_ , that other jackal got away... He looked injured so he's likely not long for the world anyway." he placed his hand on his heart. "Say... Just how long was I stuck in that hospital bed? How long have I had this power and didn't realize it until now?"

"You've been out cold for 6 weeks. At first the procedure didn't take, we had to fine-tune a few things, get you adjusted to each power level, all boring science stuff. Nothing you should be too concerned about!"

"Out cold? Are you saying I was weak!?"

"Not at all! Think of it as the ruby attuning itself to you. It was like that in the _other_ test subject as well. I even experimented with a few cadavers and the results were similar with the fresher samples of the bunch but ultimately useless considering their condition."

"And my mind... What happened to my mind?!"

"We can find out once we get back to the facility... What do you say, Infinite?" the doctor extended his hand.

"Infinite? Me? Is that my name?"

"You don't remember?"

"I don't. I don't think I ever had a name..."

"You're the one who told me you wanted to become infinite. You're the one who wanted to surpass and defeat Shadow."

The jackal growled. "You needn't remind me Doctor..."

"Anyway, we'll discuss this once we get back to the lab." the doctor pulled the wild dog up and escorted him to the egg carrier, rushing them back to the lab for immediate cat scans of his brain (as he suspected the ruby of causing some issue that worsened the other problems he had diagnosed based on previous cat scans).

Wind whipping through his silver hair the jackal kept his arms wrapped around his chest, eyes half-closed so to avoid flying debris. "Say... am I really Infinite now? Can I really become such a thing?"

"In due time you will be."

…

More tests, more training, more time kept asleep with only technology and the ruby to sustain him.

Finally he had reached a point where he could stand on his own two feet and had complete control over the stone and it's beautiful illusions. He had taken full control of this power, held it close to his heart and wielding it flawlessly with an iron fist. The memories of the unfamiliar jackals without faces or bodies, the memory of the weak jackal that ran wildly through the night only to die due to some injury he couldn't recall, various images of people and places he didn't remember – all memories that were foreign to him and may not have truly been his own memories but instead dreams he confused for things that he'd actually experienced, perhaps even illusions the ruby fed him to make him happy. Yet he had no need for them.

Out of his life support systems, he walked though the room that housed numerous test tubes large enough to fit a being such as himself – looking at the tube he had been housed in on and off for weeks that felt like an eons as he held a mask he'd formed in his hands. He'd become Infinite. He was no longer the person his mind told him he was prior to encountering the Phantom Ruby.

"This day I give up my own unsightly face. Today is the day I let go of the old me, the one lingering in my head – the one who seems to weak to really be me." he looked down at the mask in his hands, admiring his own craftsmanship before placing it over his face.

"This is the day I am reborn..."

 **Chapter end**

 **My head canon name for Infinite prior to becoming Infinite is "Zero". My other head canon name for him was "Anubis" just because it makes my seven year old self who was obsessed with Egyptology squee, but realistically speaking "Zero" makes more sense as a name for him prior to becoming Infinite. Not only did Sonic Team seem to be going the route of making Infinite a modern Shadow (which is not a bad thing), but Shadow's original name was also intended to be Zero (even back when his character design looked more like an evil version of Sonic). Not to mention the number zero (0) while it means nothing on it's own is stronger when combined with other numbers and adds value to numbers it's paired up with when in the ones place and greater.**

 **Considering Infinite wants to be Infinite and the infinity symbol can be interpreted as the number eight (8) turned sideways, I felt the number theme was appropriate.**


End file.
